JohnBaker

Chu Qiu's statement before the ceremony – "Life is like Super Girl, the ones who make it to the end are all real men" – is such a specific early 2000s Chinese reality show reference. I'm not sure younger readers would get it. He also says "There are four ways to write the character '茴' in fennel beans," which is a direct reference to Lu Xun's Ah Q. The author is peppering literary and pop culture references throughout, which adds a layer of intelligence to the otherwise goofy narrative.